Wire mattress.



P. M. TINKHAM.

WIRE MATTRESS.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 21, 1911.

Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

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WITNESSES:

nnirnn an WIRE MATTRESS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented A11 12,1913.

Application filed October 21, 1911. Serial No. 655,874.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANCIS ll. TINK- HAM, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in lVire Mattresses, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in wire mattresses of the type in which the main portion is composed of links and plates connected together and attached to the enclrails of the framework by means of short, spiral springs.

The object of this invention is to attach and place at the side portion of the mattress an elastic cord of woven wire. This cord prevents the mattress from becoming displaced and also strengthens the edge of the fabric, and furnishes a smooth edge which prevents the bed clothing from catching on the ends of the wire links. The cord is attached to the end bars of the frame by short, coiled springs of the same tensile strength as the main part of the mattress, and being located above the plane of the mattress it serves as a guard to keep the mattress in place. It is a well known fact that in this class of inventions, the edge portion of the mattress is the one that becomes weakened first. This invention, therefore, serves to strengthen the edge portion.

In the drawings forming part of this application,- igure l is a plan view showing a portion of the fabric in full lines and with the dotted lines indicating the full size structure, when finished. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing the elastic cord for strengthening the edge of the mattress located so that the greater portion thereof is above the plane of the mattress. Fig. 3 is a detailed, perspective view of one corner of the mattress or fabric illustrating the manner of attaching the enlarged elastic cord to the end-rail of the frame, and its relation to the main body of the fabric.

Referring to the drawings, a designates the end-bars or rails of the wire mattress; o the main portion thereof which is composed of wire links 0 and perforated plates d connected together. Each of the links is provided with a hook at its extremities to enter openings in the plates (Z. The end of the fabric is attached to the end-bars a by means of the V -shaped links 6, the adjacent ends of each link being attached to the same plate. Coiled springs f are connected with the apex g of the links 6 and to the end bars a, as shown.

It designates an elastic cord or wire ropelike structure that is secured to the side of the wire mattress by means of rods i (only one of which is shown) attached to one of the coils of the elastic cord, as shown in Fig. 2, by means of a coil The elastic cord is composed of a central or core-coil 7c and lo cated around this core are a plurality of wire coils h of practically the same size as the core coil. The coils h, are connected together, as shown, and are also wound or twisted about the core, as shown in Fig. 3. The rod 2' is attached to the links 0 by being passed through links in their outer ends, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. It will be particu larly observed from these figures that this elastic cord or cable is arranged mainly above the plane of the wire mattress, the purpose of which is to retain the bedding in place and to strengthen the edge of the same. The lower side of the cord is substantially in the plane of the upper surface of the mattress.

The elastic cord is secured to the bars a. by means of the clamps m which are merely pieces of tubing that are pinched or crushed onto the end of the cable and attached to the end-bar a by means of coiled springs 0, similar to the manner in which the links 6 are attached.

The location and arrangement of a woven wire elastic cord along the side portion and which is attached to the wire mattress of the link and plate type with coiled springs at the end thereof to attach it to the end bars of the framework, produces a structure which greatly strengthens the edge portion, secures a smooth edge, whereby the ends of the links will not catch the bed clothing, and at the same time serves to retain the bedding in place. In other words, the elastic cable is a guard device.

hat I claim, is

1. A frame, a bed-spring fabric supported thereby comprising a body portion of any suitable form, separate parallel edge portions one on each side of the body portion formed of a plurality of circular strands twisted together into a rope-like form of a large diameter as compared to the thickness of the body portion, and connections from said edge portions to said body portion and said frame, whereby each edge portion is supported with the lower edge thereof in substantially the same plane as thebody portion to give added strength to the edge, of the spring fabric, and at the same time to form a rounded side guard support.

2. A spring bed comprising a frame, an elastic fabric secured to and extending be tween the ends of the frame, an elastic ropelike cord member formed of a plurality of circular strands twisted together, means to whereby the sides of the fabric will be 15 strengthened and a mattress guard with a rounded smooth surface formed.

FRANCIS M. TINKHAM.

Witnesses HARRY WV. BOWEN, K I. CLEMoNs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each,v by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

